Plant-rich bog one of a handful

Preservationists see worth of these areas in Indiana.

Preservationists see worth of these areas in Indiana.

November 12, 2005|SARAH A. MEISCH

Stepping out onto the bog is like stepping on an oozing wet sponge. Mud swells up around shoes or boots and the ground gives slightly. Cattails, 6 feet or taller, spring from the ground, dwarfing a person. Actually, it isn't ground. It's built-up layers of decaying vegetation on floating mats of sphagnum moss. But the mats, called hummocks, can support a person's weight. If someone jumps on them, it can cause movement several yards away. That's known as "quaking" the bog. This bog -- one of few in the state -- is in Glennwood Nature Preserve, opened to the public this year and named after the grandfather of one of the people who donated the land to ACRES Land Trust. The land preservation organization hopes to expand the preserve, including adding a boardwalk out onto the bog. ACRES owns the 37 acres west of Warsaw that include the bog, once known as Willet's Lake. Under the spongy ground rests water that runs 17 feet deep, said Carolyn McNagny, executive director of ACRES Land Trust. In 2000, Steve and Lynn Hossler of Fort Wayne bought the land so they'd have a natural area for recreation and camping. The Hosslers donated the land in 2003. "As soon as we started exploring the area ... we realized the plant life there was very unique," Steve Hossler said. "We thought it would be a good thing to donate it and make it a state nature preserve if possible." The land is host to less common plants such as the Canadian mayflower, royal ferns, cotton grass and a few species McNagny declined to name for fear collectors will seek them out and remove them. The bog also is home to wild blueberries, poison sumac, sarsaparilla, up to nine species of ferns and possibly cranberries, she said. Hossler bought the land in an auction after seeing a notice in a Warsaw newspaper. "I went out and took a look at it and knew it was something special," he said. "There was no way I was going to lose at that auction." Hossler paid $140,000 for the land -- the limit he had set for himself before bidding. "I was bidding against people whose intent was on one thing -- the value of the timber," he said. "They quit bidding after it reached the timber value." Other bidders remained, though, and Hossler got ready to break his limit, but the last competing bidder dropped out when it reached Hossler's bottom line. When Hossler signed it over to ACRES, he asked that it be named after his grandfather Glenn Manwarren. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is pleased ACRES is protecting the property, which the group plans to dedicate as a state nature preserve. "With bogs, there probably were never that many in the state," said John Bacone, director of the DNR Division of Nature Preserves. "Very few remain. A number have been ditched and drained. Some have been mined for peat." To get to Glennwood Nature Preserve, take U.S. 30 west of Warsaw to County Road 700 West. Turn north and 700 West will dead-end at the preserve. Maps can be downloaded at www.Acres-Land-Trust.org.